"Alfred Kubin (1877-1959) created drawings that plumb the depths of the shadow world of the human subconscious, with its unguarded impulses and fears. Though a contemporary and fellow countryman of artist Gustav Klimt and designer Josef Hoffmann, Kubin eschewed the decorative impulses found in their work. Instead, inspired by the art of Francisco Goya, Felicien Rops, Max Klinger, James Ensor, and Edvard Munch, he produced dark, hallucinatory visions of violence and eroticism." "This publication accompanies the exhibition Alfred Kubin - Drawings 1897-1909, Much features more than 100 works on paper by the artist. On view at the Neue Galerie from September 25, 2008, through January 26, 2009, this is the first major Kubin exhibition ever held in the United States, and it focuses on his early, often nightmarish drawings, watercolors, and lithographs. The exhibition is organized by Annegret Hoberg, curator of the Stadtische Galerie in Lenbachhaus, Munich." "Essays examine the artist's early career; his status as a literary figure; and his development of a form of Modernism that ran counter to prevailing trends. The more than 100 illustrations reveal an artist who was able to articulate our darkest nightmares with frightening clarity."--Jacket